


Something About Dancing

by KenyaKetchup (temptedmelibea)



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, and her 4k followers on tumblr, for gcq, prompt was "something about dancing", thanks for the Creep comic!, this is creep related, thus horrible
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-09 11:38:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8889337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/temptedmelibea/pseuds/KenyaKetchup
Summary: So gcq's Creep comic hit 4k followers on Tumblr.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gcq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gcq/gifts).



> So gcq's Creep comic hit 4k followers on Tumblr. To celebrate, we took drabble prompts. I don't remember who requested this (sorry! post and comments are gone!! :( ) but I distinctly remember somebody asking for a drabble about dancing so here it is. This is set in the Creep timeline gcq is currently illustrating (so, sometime after the library scene in chapter one).
> 
> The comic, go check it out if you haven't: creeptale.tumblr.com  
> The artist, who is amazingly talented: gcqaiumi.tumblr.com  
> My tumblr, go let me bug you: kenyaketchup.tumblr.com

A pleasant, contented warmth spread through Sans as Papyrus and the kid laughed. Both the human and his brother had been acting giddy all evening, keeping Sans company as he worked on the finishing touches of his latest project.

 

"now, remember kids, this still might not work," Sans warned, a hint of affection carrying in his voice as he once again measured the circuit’s current with his old multimeter. He was doing his absolute best to double- and triple-check his work. Sans had once again confirmed that he had all the right resistors for the speaker circuit, but still... "this _should_ work, but there's no guarantees with something as old as this. we've never found one of these in the dump before, so i'm not absolutely sure..."

 

"BUT YOU _ARE_ SURE THAT IT IS INDEED A MUSIC PLAYER, SANS? A REAL ONE?" If Papyrus was trying to contain his excitement, he was failing miserably. Not only did he look happy enough that he might burst, but he had also asked the same question about twenty other times.

 

"yeah..." Sans once again reassured his brother before turning his attention to the kid. She looked far less convinced at Sans’ statement than Papyrus did: a subtle rigidness in her body posture betrayed the anxiety she felt amidst all the hype. Sans decided to prod. "something on your mind, kiddo?"

 

Frisk's eyes widened as she quickly took on an expression of having been caught, something akin to a deer caught in the headlights. She tensed up considerably, her cheeks turning a pretty pink that… Sans still felt very uneasy about noticing. With a wave of apprehension, he pretended not to have noticed it.

 

But something in him skipped a beat and he was suddenly nervous not only because he was afraid of his latest attempt at machine restoration not working.

 

It took the kid a few minutes to find the words to speak. Sans was used to this, and pretended not to notice. He tinkered a little more with the circuit as he waited, attention seemingly once again focused on the machine. He checked the resistance in a few spots, made sure he had the right ohms. Frisk was shy, so he always made sure she felt she could take her time.

 

She was a good kid. Sans appreciated that.

 

When the kid finally did speak, her voice hushed and soft. "Um, it's just..." She slightly blushed as Papyrus joined in with his attention to her, both skeletons waiting to hear what she had to say. She was a quiet kid, and spoke so rarely that they just... "Um... It doesn't look like any music player that I've seen."

 

Sans raised a brow bone and turned to look at the machine that Papyrus, all excitement and screams and hyperactive happy motions, had brought into the house almost three months ago. It looked nothing, right now, like it had looked before: with its exposed interior and its brand new circuit bare and visible. Sans had been forced to rewire the entire thing. Some parts had just been too old and covered in rust to work, despite Papyrus having found the thing still technically “BRAND NEW” and in its original box. The outside of the music player strongly resembled a cuboid with a smooth black plastic shell. It had many knobs and buttons protruding from it, as well as speakers, and a small rectangle-shaped slot where Sans assumed the music would go.

 

Sans and Papyrus had both assumed the music player was pretty popular among humans, up in the surface. They had both, after all, found several music tapes over the years. Many of them Papyrus had been excited to find were still pristine and kept in their own transparent little boxes. Alphys had once told him that these things were called _cassettes_ , that she had a small collection of them herself, although no cassette players had fallen Underground intact enough for any of the music to be played.

 

And now, Papyrus, Sans and Frisk potentially had the very first functional cassette player in the Underground.

 

Sans was starting to feel a little excited himself.

 

Yet still, and curiously enough, despite how sure Alphys had been that these cassette players had music in them…. Frisk had taken one look at Papyrus and Sans’ collection and had immediately claimed that she had never seen one of those in her life.

 

"BUT IT  _IS_  A MUSIC PLAYER," Papyrus said-shouted, his voice loud enough that Sans caught the kid flinch before the pink of her skin deepened. "IT SAYS SO IN THE BOX."

 

"my bro's right, kiddo. this circuit isn't good for much else. i can show you, if you want..." Sans offered, far more laid back than Paps had been in his enthusiastic need to be right. Sans patted the floor next to him, giving the kid a smile before inviting her. “c'mere.”

 

The kid hesitated, for the slightest moment, before she moved and sat next to him. She was close enough to Sans now that he was abruptly reminded of how decidedly small she was, still at least over half a foot shorter than him and _decidedly innocent_ as she blushed by the way their knees almost touched. He would have thought it was cute had the bones of his fingers not itched and tingled, suddenly filled with the unwanted urge to reach for Frisk.

 

He caught himself reaching for her and  _stopped_. His mind started spinning with a wave of confused nausea and self-disgust. And as soon as he caught himself, his mind went blank.

 

And he just started...  _blabbering_. About magnets and coils and whatever else. Sans thought that he managed to explain how the coil was fixed against the speaker—he'd at _least_ pointed to it—and how electricity made it become an electromagnet. He quickly added that the change in the electromagnet's magnetic field was what made it either repelled or attracted by the permanent magnet attached just behind it. He may have stuttered, slightly, when his explanation was met with a blank stare from the kid. And then just as quickly, just as briefly, he had wondered if he had lost her at electricity or magnetism, wondered if he should take the time to explain both, wondered if her hand was as soft as it looked, if kissing her would feel as good as he thought, if...

 

"Um... You don't have to explain all of it," Frisk blurted out, the soft timbre of her voice coming out equal parts alluring and  _childish_  and doing a number on him that he didn't know how to describe. It made him instantly back off, left with the sickening, now disturbingly all too familiar feeling of guilt and of sin, felt dirty, _disgusting_ —

 

What was _wrong_ with him?

 

And her words sounded sincere when she said "I believe you" and she was  _just talking about the circuit_ , nothing else. But his mind quickly made it into  _so much more_ , and—

 

He felt sick. But how sick was he? He briefly wondered how old she was, as he discreetly scooted away. Tried to focus on reassembling the black outer shell of the music player. And he _tried_ not to notice—he really, _really_ tried—he _tried_ not to notice how the kiddo had stayed _exactly_ where she was, her attention on his hands as he tightened screws with brief zaps of magic, bony hands and phalanges that were  _decidedly not shaking slightly_.

 

He was fond of this kid, this Anomaly, this teen. Sans would admit to that much, but _that_ was that. That  _had_  to be that. And he definitely  _shouldn't_  be noticing...

 

"IS IT DONE, SANS?" Pap's uncontainable excitement once again boomed throughout the living room, snapping Sans back into reality. He wondered if he had been staring blankly at the machine for too long. Papyrus didn’t seem to have noticed, far too eager to think of anything but, "ARE YOU FINISHED? CAN WE PLAY THE MUSIC NOW?"

 

"we can give it a try," Sans said. He didn't want to make promises. To fail was one thing ( _he_  was a failure), but to disappoint Paps... "how 'bout you pick a song to try out?"

 

Papyrus' joy was so visible that he all but vibrated, letting out an overly excited scream that didn’t quite sound like anything except for the sounds he made on Christmas. Paps quickly ran to their pile of lost-and-found cassettes, digging around the pile with uncontained delight until he settled on one of the few cassettes that was still pristine inside its plastic box. "HOW ABOUT..."—he strained to read—" _'FEE-STA... MAH-CAH-REENA’_? IT HAS FANCY-DRESSED HUMANS IN THE COVER, LOOK! THIS MUST BE ONE OF THEIR TRADITIONAL BALL SONGS!"

 

Frisk let out a stifled giggle.

 

The two brothers quickly turned to Frisk, both looking as if they honestly expected her to either confirm or deny Pap's statement. The kid just shrugged her shoulders. "I've never heard of it," she told them. "But I... I don’t know what people do at parties. I, um, I don’t even know how to dance.”

  
And Sans was about to shrug that off, to reassure the kid with a quick 'eh, don't worry 'bout, kid,' when Papyrus let out a shrill wail beside them.

 

"HUMAN!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DANCE!? THIS CANNOT BE!!! I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!!! I—

 

“I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL TEACH YOU!" With a swift and dramatic move, Paps proceeded to move towards  _slamming the cassette into the music player_  in a way that caused Sans to almost gave a little scream as he quickly intercepted.

 

“i’ll put it in, i’ll put it in!” Sans quickly took the cassette away from Paps. He had spent _months_ refurbishing this thing, across multiple timelines. Each and every piece had had to be carefully assembled and just... "don’t worry about the music, bro. how about you focus on the kid?"

 

"THAT IS AN EXCELLENT IDEA. THANK YOU, SANS, FOR OFFERING TO BE THE DEE JAY! HUMAN, ARE YOU READY? BECAUSE YOUR LESSON STARTS…”

 

Papyrus turned to look at Sans. Frisk awkwardly got up, and Sans put on the cassette.

 

Sans fiddled with the buttons. He hadn’t really bothered to read the instructions.

 

Sans accidentally ejected the cassette. ...Oops. Let’s try that again.

 

The kid looked like she felt incredibly awkward. Sans kept fiddling with the machine. Papyrus’ gaze remained focused on Sans.

 

Sans finally hit the Play button. The cassette made a worrying noise.

 

And then the sound of a soft, almost corny flute-like sound filled the living room, followed by a sort of chanting.

 

“…NOW!! YOUR LESSON STARTS NOW!!!” Papyrus quickly moved to grab the human, who was far too short for Papyrus to dance with properly.

 

After a few awkward and long seconds of flute music, the song lyrics began.

 

And Papyrus started stomping his feet—first the left, then the right, then both at the same time. The loud bang of his boots hitting the wooden floor was almost enough to drown out what sounded like human men singing in some foreign tongue. Despite this, Papyrus looked absolutely concentrated. He was hunched over slightly so that he would not tower as much over Frisk, his long arms only partly raised in a way that forced the kid to raise her own arms high enough that she seemed to be trying to touch the ceiling. And after a quick instruction to “JUST COPY ME, HUMAN”, Frisk started moving just as

 

...awkwardly...

 

And began 'dancing' just as badly as Paps.

 

“WOWIE, THIS IS FUN!” Papyrus swayed from left to right, feet stomping, hands grabbing Frisk's as he moved her along to his rhythm. The sight made Sans stifle a laugh. This was  _too_ _hilarious_.

 

“great dancing, bro,” Sans commented, and something in his tone caused Frisk to give him a look.

 

Sans just shrugged his shoulder blades.

 

When the song ended, Papyrus gave Frisk a deep bow. He instructed the human to do the same, and she very politely did.

 

“DID YOU ENJOY THE DANCING?”

 

“Um—Very much…”

 

“THEN I, HUMAN, PROMISE TO BE YOUR DANCING PARTNER FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT!!”

 

Papyrus, Frisk and Sans spent the rest of the evening together, the three of them listening to music. Papyrus and Frisk mostly danced but sometimes attempted to sing to songs not even Frisk knew, to Sans' quiet amusement. Papyrus had obviously never danced before; he tried to make up for lack of experience with a heaping overdose of enthusiasm. And for the most part, that seemed to work: Paps and Frisk were having a great time... and therefore Sans was, too, as he comfortably and rather lazily settled on the couch.

 

Eventually, Papyrus exhausted the more poppy, popular-sounding records that he preferred. He started spending a longer time digging through the pile for “THE COOLER CASSETTE TAPES”.

 

Frisk plopped on the couch next to Sans during a particularly long pause in the music, panting for breath. Her cheeks were now completely red and she looked rather tired and sweaty and—

 

~~Sans’ gaze down to her chest.~~

 

Sans feeling nausea. Paranoia. Shame.

 

Sans…

 

“This is really fun,” Frisk told him, voice slightly more confident now that she had been ridiculously dancing with Papyrus in front of Sans for the past two hours. “You should try it, even if we don’t dance very well. Don’t you dance?”

 

Sans let out a soft snort. “kiddo, look at me. i’m walking _punny_ bones, ‘ _course_ i have to know how to dance.”

 

Frisk frowned at that. “You _have_ to?”

 

He caught himself.

 

And it really wouldn’t have been too bad to joke that women liked a dancer. It wouldn’t have been too bad at all, and it _was_ true, but just… For some reason, he really didn’t want to say that to the kid. He felt so _stupid_ , this kid was _decades_ his junior, but still he—

 

“have to be my own dancing partner, since i’ve got no _body_ to dance with.”

 

Frisk snorted even as she tried to look like she absolutely hated his joke. She was so cute. But the laugh alerted Papyrus—

 

“SANS, YOU BETTER NOT BE TELLING YOUR PUNS IN THIS PARTY!”

 

And it made Sans sit just a little straighter, his eye sockets looking a little more pointedly away from Frisk.

 

Eventually Papyrus gave in and finally chose a “LESS HIP OR COOL CASSETTE TAPE”. He handed Frisk the tape, as Sans had quickly delegated “cassette duty” to the kid, and

 

Smooth, calming saxophone music came from the speakers a few moments later, wrapping around Sans like a soft blanket, doing wonders for his anxiety and marking a perfect end for the night.

 

Frisk heard five seconds of it and groaned.

 

Papyrus joined the sentiment, and immediately announced he would look for “A BETTER CASSETTE TAPE”.

 

“actually, it's bedtime,” Sans announced, rolling the lights in his eye sockets as he marveled at the kid’s and Pap’s lack of taste for _real_ music. He took a moment to leisurely stretch, glancing at the time from the corner of his eye socket. It was a quarter past eight, and Papyrus had work tomorrow. “got to wake me up early tomorrow and all, paps.”

 

“YOU’RE RIGHT! I SHOULD TIDY UP THEN BRUSH MY TEETH.”

 

Then Sans turned to the kid and _this was a bad idea with how he had been looking at her_ , this _really was_ , but “you crashing here tonight, kiddo?”

 

“Um— Can I?” Her eyes looked bright and her cheeks were pink and he wondered just what she might do if he leaned in and kissed her.

 

Kid looked so pretty tonight.

 

He tried to snap out of it.

 

Papyrus gasped before he enthusiastically shrieked, “OF COURSE YOU CAN!” Sans let out a low laugh.

 

“you're always welcome here, kiddo. thanks for listening to the cassettes with us. hope you brought your toothbrush and a _tuba_ toothpaste.”

 

Frisk frowned. Paps let out a short laugh, turned to a forced cough, turned to an irritated screech.

 

“SANS, NOT IN THIS HOUSE.”

 

Sans couldn't help but let his grin widen then, shrugging at Paps with a wink. “don't mean to de- _bass_  your statement, but i thought that one was pretty good if it got you laughing.”  
  
“Sans, no.” The kid groaned.

 

“CEASE THIS AT ONCE. YOU AND YOUR PUNS, SANS, I SWEAR—”

 

“heh... yeah. sorry, frisk.” And her name told in a past timeline just slipped out.

 

And maybe Papyrus didn't catch it, as he noisily proceeded to tidy everything away. Maybe Papyrus didn't catch Sans saying the kid's name at all, but Frisk certainly did.

 

She paused and stared at him.

 

And, “Have I…?”

 

She blushed.

 

“ALL FIXED AND TIDIED,” Papyrus exclaimed, gloved hands over his hip bones as he admired his work. He looked exceptionally proud of himself. Then he turned to Frisk and Sans and just as proudly announced, “NOW ON TO ACHIEVE GOOD DENTAL CLEANLINESS.”

 

“great job, papyrus,” Sans said.

 

Frisk quickly followed his lead. “Um… That is way cool.”

 

The kid’s praise made Papyrus beam and _that shouldn’t have gotten to Sans as much as it had_. It really shouldn’t have, but _stars_ —

  
Papyrus went up the stairs, leaving Sans and the kid alone.

 

Sans very quickly envisioned pouncing on the kid. He _knew_ that she liked him. She had been crushing on him for at least couple of months. So what if he…

 

 _So what if he_ _j u s t_ …

 

“Today was really fun,” Frisk told him. Once again equal parts alluring and childish, like an invitation and a warning to stop. It made his skull dizzy, made bile rise up his nonexistent throat…

 

Made the bones of his hands tingle, longing just for a touch.

 

Just _one_.

 

He balled his hands into fists, and stuffed them deep into his coat pocket.

 

“looks like you and paps had a _ball_.”

 

Frisk rolled her eyes. “Ha, _ha_. Very _punny_. Hey, did you know my mom knows how to dance? Toriel, I mean.”

 

“yeah?" Sans was a bit surprised. "i didn’t know that about—”

 

“Yeah, she was a _baa_ -llerina.”

 

It took Sans a fraction of a second to catch on to the joke.

 

And then he just started… He just started _laughing_. A chuckle that turned into a fit of laughter, barely containable as the joke caught him by surprise. He laughed until it hurt, until his hand reached hers…

 

Her skin was as soft as it looked. Her hand was as warm as he remembered her blood being.

 

And he froze… He froze on the spot.

 

The magic coursing through him felt like ice. He’d crossed a line. He felt chills up this spine. And he felt immediate regret, he wanted a do-over,

 

This was _big_.

 

 _Frisk was a kid_. _This was a kid he was touching_. He _really_ _shouldn’t_ —

 

When he looked up, the kid was beaming. Of course she was, centuple-confirmed: the kid had the silliest, most childish crush on him. But still, he couldn’t help but wonder if that made this okay. She— She liked him, so…

 

He wasn’t hurting her. Was he? This wasn’t hurting anybody. And that was—that was the stupidest lie he’d ever told himself. But still he…

 

He kind of let himself… Just lightly squeeze her hand. “that was a good one, kiddo.” And then his touch lingered.

 

He _jerked his hand away_ when Papyrus peered from above the stairs, “SANS! I AM READY FOR MY BEDTIME STORY.”

 

And if he’d had a heart, Sans’ would be beating a thousand beats per minute. As he was, he felt nauseated—

 

and empty—

 

The bones of his hand and fingers tingled. And the kid was so soft, so warm, and

 

“last call for a bedtime story,” Sans told her. “we really wouldn’t mind, y’know. if you joined us. paps would love it."

 

Frisk politely shook her head. “No, thank you... Um. I know that’s kind of... your brother thing.”

 

Sans shrugged. “eh, suit yourself, kid. wanna watch tv after i’m done?”

 

The kid beamed again, eyes lit up and bright. She looked like she was just about to say something, but decided against it and just nodded.

 

“cool. ‘kay, stay there. i’ll be back,” Sans winked. “maybe i can show you how to dance for real during commercials.”

 

He started going up the stairs.

 

And the image of himself dancing with Frisk, one hand holding hers, the other one low against her back, almost touching her—

 

He caught himself.

 

How old was this kid. She had probably only just hit puberty. And he felt sick.

 

“or, uh. maybe not,” he gave a noncommittal shrug. “might be too lazy to dance. just looking at you two tired me out.”

 

He left to answer Papyrus’ call before he ended up giving in and finding out what slow dancing with the kid might feel like.

**Author's Note:**

> And a huge THANK YOU to everyone following the Creep comic and supporting it!! Gcq is an insanely talented artist. It's was huge honor that she wanted to illustrate my fic!? Like seriously thank you gcq, THANK YOU, for the comic and the chats and encouraging/reading my random bad first drafts and for the many, many lols. 
> 
> Writing Creep is still traumatizing... But it's been at least super fun to be able to talk to you about it. (And complain about Sans.)


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